i would wait for you
by lync
Summary: where people change. and not everything is forever. will elena go after what she wants?


_My first TVD fic. I just couldn't help myself. It would mean alot if people would take the time to review. Thanks!_

**i would wait for you.**

" I can't believe he's a teacher. Let alone _our _teacher. It goes against everything I've ever known. And it is such waaaste," Caroline sighed mournfully, eyes on a certain history teacher.

Elena smiled, her hair a dark curtain as it shielded her face from the harsh artificial light of the library.

"Quit drooling over him. It's sacrilegious or something," Elena said with a light laugh, eyes downcast as she idly doodled in her notebook.

They were in the library, Mr. Saltzman had given them some extra class time to work on their history paper that was going to be due in a week...and not a lot was getting done.

But come on, it was Friday. Everyone was mostly talking about the big bonfire that was going down tonight after the football game anyway.

"If Ric didn't want to be admired by hormone-driven women he should have gone into another field," Caroline teased, sliding into a seat across from her friend; all the while bumping Elena's elbow purposely.

Elena looked at the now crooked heart on her paper and sighed as she flipped her notebook closed. She was seriously becoming the very epitome of pathetic school girl with a crush.

"Would you please stop calling him Ric," she said with a tiny grimace, tucking her hair behind an ear. "It's testing my gag reflex."

"He asked us to!" Caroline laughed. "Besides, don't tell me you call him 'Mr. Saltzman' when he comes to your house to see Jenna."

Elena shook her head with a smile, starting to put things back into her bag. "No, but that's out of school. It feels less weird or something...look, I don't know!"

Caroline rolled her eyes, standing up with Elena, along with the rest of the class, as the bell rang.

School was out. Hello, weekend.

**xxx**

"So you want me to come get you later tonight?" Caroline looked back at Elena from the passenger seat, the sun making her golden hair a halo.

They were in Matt's car, on the way to Elena's home. Matt had joined up with them as soon as they'd exited the library. Caroline and Matt were on again this month. Bets we're already on for the next time they needed a break to "think things through", but Elena was really hoping for the best this time around.

Elena fiddled with her seat belt buckle, a tense smile on her lips as she continued to stare out the window. "Uh, no. I kind of have other plans. But maybe I'll catch up you guys at the bonfire later...I'll text you, Care."

She'd meant to sound nonchalant, but the words came out fast and clumsy on her tongue. Elena could feel Caroline staring at her from the corner of her eye.

"Is it Stefan?" Matt suddenly broke in, eyes on the road. " I thought you guys were okay...or pretending to be okay."

"He still stares at you with those wounded puppy-eyes," Caroline teased, her hand linking with Matt's to rest on his lap.

Elena leaned her forehead against the cool window and sighed. "No, it's not Stefan. We're fine. Sometimes I feel like he thinks it's just a matter of time before things go back to the way they were, but I can't do that. I won't do that, " she finished quietly.

It was months later and the breakup with Stefan was still awkward for her to talk about. After so much back and forth - when the whiplash of emotions had finally worn her out - she'd been surprisingly at peace with the decision to end things. _Her_ decision, Stefan had told her definitively.

He loved her. They'd loved each other. It still hurt her to remember the pain in Stefan's eyes. There was a time when she thought her tears would never stop.

_He was so still. His back to her, facing the fire. She held herself tightly; like it was the only thing that was keeping her from falling apart. The pleas, tears, and anger had finally slipped into silence._

_They'd been at this for hours; the shine of the moon from the window had replaced the bright warmth of the sun. _

_"Well, I guess I have to be thankful that you didn't give me the 'it's not you, it's me' speech," Stefan finally spoke dryly, his voice rough. "At least not word for word, anyway..."_

_Elena bit her lip and closed her eyes. Her nails biting into the skin of her arms. _

_"Stefan, please. I do...you know I-" she started, eyes still closed, her lashes dark and wet against her skin. _

_Before she could continue she felt the air around her stir, her hair brushing against her cheek as cool lips unexpectedly pressed to her temple chastely._

_"I know," his voice was a whisper against her ear, his body a cold, unmoving presence beside her._

_She kept still. Not trusting herself to move as she felt him lean in again. His words piercing her heart with the truth in them._

_"I know you do, Elena. Just not as much as you love him."_

**xxx**

Love him? Did she?

Elena stared at the boarding house; the setting sun casting swirls of eggplant and peach behind it. It was beautiful. But she had no time to admire it. She'd already waited long enough.

One kiss. Just one kiss had started all this. No, that wasn't true. Her tangled feelings for him had started long before that.

_"You and I, we have something..."_

Elena inhaled deeply and shrugged herself deeper into her leather jacket. There was a light chill starting to develop, but it was nothing compared to the nervous fear threatening to overtake her.

It had been months. Months that felt like forever. Even after things ended with Stefan, she still wouldn't let herself go to him. Scared of what it would mean, and also a way of proving to herself, to everyone, that she wasn't going to change her mind and go running back into the safety of Stefan's arms.

Elena steeled herself and forced her feet to move, the sound of dry leaves crunching under her boots. Every step forcing her doubts to scream all at once in her thoughts

_hehatesyou. itsbeenfourmonths. notsafe. hesgoingtolaughinyourface. killer. notevengoingtobehome. thisisthestupidestidea. turnbacknowgo. probablybackwithkatherinealready. TURNBACK._

It didn't even feel like her own hand that knocked on the door. Her mouth dry and body tense as she heard footsteps coming towards her.

And then suddenly her unconscious trembling stopped - her back straightening as she shook out the hair from eyes - as the door opened and her brown eyes hungrily locked on the person she'd missed so much it physically hurt.

"Hello, Damon..."

Black jeans, his dark shirt open revealing the smooth planes of his chest. Head tilted in that infuriating way that made her want to hit and kiss him breathless all at once.

Leaning against the solid, wood door; there was mild shock in his eyes. Though she knew he had to of caught her scent long before he opened the door. He was the perfect hunter, after all.

"Elena," he said simply, a sneer on his lips to match the iciness of his blue eyes. That flawless face a perfect mask - hiding all the complexity and passion she knew was in him.

"What do I owe the honor?" Damon questioned lazily, eyebrows raised.

Before she could answer he turned and walked back into the house, leaving Elena nothing else to do but follow.

It was strange being at the boarding house again. Where everything looked the same but wasn't. Stefan had moved out long ago, to a townhouse on the other side of town. And the new living conditions seemed to suit both brothers just fine.

Once they reached the study, he glanced briefly at her over his shoulder.

"Talk. I've got places to be and people to do," he said shortly, his body slithering into an armchair before the lit fire, eyes focused on her with faux attentiveness.

She'd known beforehand that coming here wasn't going to be easy, but this, his cold indifference, was bringing her nervousness back ten fold.

"Damon," she started, tongue licking dry lips. "I know you must be angry-"

"Anger would entail that I felt something. For you. Don't flatter yourself," Damon cut in, his words sharp. Blue eyes hard as they studied, then seemed to dismiss her, entirely.

Quick as a flash he was up and before her; his breath becoming hers, their lips so tantalizingly close. Firm hands cradling her face as he lifted her chin up to face him.

Elena's shocked gasp was the faintest of whispers between them, one of her hands tentatively coming up to rest against his hard, unyielding chest.

Looking into his eyes, at the perfect beauty of him, the words came easily. "Please," she breathed. "Damon, I want to be with you."

Blue eyes brightened as the words left her mouth, lashes lowering as his lips curved into the barest of smiles. Elena held her breath as his head lowered, the roughness of his cheek brushing against hers making her tremble.

"Oh, Elena..." his words caressed her from head to toe, relief warming her. The sudden sweet, torturous slick of his tongue slowly tracing the shell of her ear causing her to lean into his body; her hand clutching at his chest.

A gentle kiss landed on the lobe of her ear, only to be continued by a soft trail of them on her jaw till they stopped just at the corner of her mouth.

Elena opened eyes that she didn't know had closed, her breathing heavy as they gazed at each other.

The small smile was still on his face as he brought his forehead to rest against hers, hands loosely cupping the back of her neck.

"Sweet, sweet Elena. You have no idea..." Damon whispered, Elena's lashes fluttering closed as she inhaled his scent. A scent that was his only.

Finally. Finally, she was where-

Elena's eyes shot open at the gentle shaking of Damon's body. Her stomach clenching tightly at the muffled sounds escaping his lips.

He was laughing.

And then, just like that, she was alone.

An emptiness started to consume her. Panic bubbling in her throat. The fire in the grate, so near, doing nothing to stop the ice starting to course through her veins.

"Well, I don't," his voice suddenly rang out, and Elena turned quickly in time to see him stepping out of the darkness, his upper body now completely bare. Lips twisted in a cruel smirk as he stepped right up to her.

"I don't want you, Elena," voice quiet, his face close as he gave her a cursory look before moving away.

Numbness. It was everywhere. She could only watch as he stood there before her, his face a mockery of the pain she felt.

"You're so fucking stupid, Elena," a familiar voice suddenly said.

And then Elena felt the threads barely holding her together coming undone...

Bonnie stepped into the firelight. Her face triumphant as her silk and lace clad form found it's way into Damon's arms. Her fingertips immediately tracing the defined ridges of his abdomen; as if she knew the path by heart.

Elena gazed in mute horror as Damon's mouth immediately latched onto Bonnie's throat, his lips easily finding her pulse point. Bonnie's eyes never left Elena's; her smile widening as Damon murmured words that only she could hear.

"And we will. Patience," Bonnie purred, and Elena knew she might as well not even be in the room anymore.

Damon's grin was filled with amusement as he graced Elena with another half-hearted glance. "So nice of you to stop by. But next time, call first. Manners...no one has them anymore. Such a shame."

Elena dimly heard Bonnie's accompanied laughter to Damon' words; her eyes staring into nothingness.

Darkness was clouding her vision, but she could hear footsteps moving away. Faint laughter was echoing from every direction.

She was barely there. Fallingfalling. And then...nothing. No breath. No sound.

Just some last few moments to feel the beat of her heart. Till that too came to a slow, halting end.

**x**

**x**

**x**

"NO!"

Elena shot up off her bed. Eyes wide; her hair a silken tangle around her shoulders as her breath came out in harsh gasps.

Brown eyes swept over the familiar surroundings of her room in a panic. Relief flooding her as everything became clear. A simple nap after-school had turned into a nightmare. Literally.

Stumbling to the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face. Catching a glance of her pale face in the mirror; Elena laughed.

"Pathetic, much?" she muttered to herself, trying to smile and failing. A long-time pro at fooling others, she wasn't as successful when it came to fooling herself.

Roughly rubbing a towel against her face, Elena went back to her room. And try as she might to stop them, her thoughts were already spiraling wildly away from her.

No. The thought of Bonnie and Damon was ridiculous. She hated him and he thought nothing of her. If he thought of her at all.

Elena herself barely thought of Bonnie anymore.

It was true, Bonnie hadn't made her choose between their friendship and Stefan. Bonnie had done all the choosing herself. Distancing herself from Elena, disappearing from her life till there was nothing left. Still angry and hurt from Bonnie's abandonment, Elena hadn't even bothered to reconnect with her friend when the relationship with Stefan was over.

Changing quickly from her damp, sweaty tank and shorts , Elena slipped into jeans and a camisole. Her mind still racing as she slipped on her boots.

She could still call up Caroline and go to the game, and Stefan would be pleased to see her in the stands...

And then it flashed in her mind. Always creeping up when all she kept trying to do was forget.

_"You are hopeless," he said with a sigh, deftly taking the whisk and mixing bowl from her hands and nudging her aside._

_With a laugh, Elena put her hands up in surrender and moved out of the way. "Fine, Iron Chef. Have at it."_

_She lifted herself to sit on the counter, legs dangling while she watched him move around the kitchen. There was an easy languid-ness in his movements that pleased and bewildered her._

_Domesticated-Damon. Scary, yet enthralling, all at the same time._

_She had initially come to see Stefan, but he'd gone out to "frolic with Bambi" as Damon put it. So, she'd decided to wait._

_Sipping from the glass of red wine Damon placed by her thigh, Elena made a face at the bitter taste._

_"Lightweight," Damon snorted, now starting to assemble the salad. His trademark smirk in place as his eyes briefly met hers._

_Pinning her hair up into a loose knot, Elena rolled her eyes and slid closer to help. "Shut it," she said with a quirk of her lips. "I'm only used to the kind that comes out of a box."_

_Damon's features twisted in revulsion, shifting as she leaned over to grab some arugula._

_"You are such a snob! Obviously you've never been to party given by teenagers..."_

_"Not even when I was a teenager," Damon laughed, eyes wicked as he pushed up the sleeves of his black sweater._

_Elena only smiled, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth. Because dare she say it, but she was actually enjoying herself._

_Throwing sliced tomatoes and cucumbers into a bowl with the arugula, Damon tried to keep his voice neutral. But failed, as his sly tone ruined things. _

_"So what's the deal with you and Mr. Brood-y? Is all not well in the land of eternal love and hearts and flowers?"_

_Eyebrows raised, Elena downed the rest of her wine. "Holy. Shit. Is Damon Salvatore expressing concern? Has hell frozen over?"_

_Nodding quickly, eyes hooded, Damon took a sip from his own glass filled with amber liquid._

_"Ha-fucking-ha," he smirked. "Seriously. The creases on Stefan's forehead are getting deeper by the day. Spill. Regale me with the trial and tribulations of Stefan and Elena. It'll give me a laugh. Or nausea. Really, it could go either way."_

_Feeling loose and warm from the wine, Elena shrugged. Troubled brown eyes looking up to find Damon's serious blue ones resting on her face._

_What the hell, she thought._

_"Stefan's back on human blood," Elena finally said, breaking his stare as she grabbed the wine bottle to pour herself another very full glass._

_Slipping the bottle from her hands after she was done, Damon re-corked the bottle before firmly setting it behind him. His face blank as he waited for her to continue._

_Pouting slightly at being cut off, Elena happily took a large gulp from her glass. __"Or he was on human blood. I found some empty blood bags in his room two weeks ago," Elena murmured, fingers lazily circling the rim of her glass. _

_Still, Damon kept silent. Arms folded as he simply listened._

_"Say's he's fine. Just a moment of weakness," Elena's gaze lifted to meet his, her expression sour. _

_"And I believe him." The 'maybe' on the tip of her tongue was left unspoken. _

_Also left unspoken was the reality that she was tired of Stefan lying to 'protect' her. Like she was some fragile, delicate piece of china on the cusp of always breaking. Blah, blah, blah. It was always the same. Ugh. She needed a drink._

_"Okay, Little Miss Sunshine. Hand it over," and Elena squawked unintelligibly as her glass was taken from her, wine spilling on her hands and the denim of her skirt._

_"I'm not drunk," Elena said with a huff, shoulders sagging._

_Damon finished her wine, and smiled in the face of her glare. "No, but you are very nicely buzzed. Any more and you'd be all 'Coyote Ugly' on my kitchen counter."_

_Elena stuck out her tongue then couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "You're an ass."_

_"I know," Damon spoke as if to a child, shaking his head as he snatched a clean towel. Stepping in between her loosely parted legs to grab hold of her wet hands._

_Slightly uncomfortable at their new closeness, Elena cleared her throat, eyes downcast as she watched him gently clean her hands._

_"Why does he do that? It's not like I expect him to be perfect. He can tell me things. I'm not going to run away," she said softly._

_"As much as this pains me..." Damon sighed the sigh of the long-suffering. "Stefan cares about you, Elena. And sometimes you have to lie to those you care about the most. A mind-numbing cliche, but true nonetheless."_

_Elena looked at him, face serious. "You don't."_

_Smirking, Damon let her hands drop into her lap, throwing the wine-stained towel over a shoulder. _

_"Um. Hi, I'm Damon. Have we met?"_

_Ignoring his joke, Elena put a hand on his arm before he could move away from her. Confused, Damon stilled at her touch. Their faces closer than they had been a second ago. _

_"I mean, you don't lie to me," Elena said quietly. "Thank you." _

_Her face was upturned toward his. Mouth dry, not knowing what to expect from the most unpredictable man she'd ever met in her small, short life._

_Damon swallowed, features relaxed in wonder. His lips parted as he leaned down to meet the lips coming towards him halfway._

_His mouth was hot on hers, sending shock right through her. She'd expected to feel cold; nothing like the warm pull of his lips against hers. The barest flick of his tongue against her own sent her hands up into his hair, her chest crushed to his in the most delicious way._

_Damon's hands were seemingly everywhere - from the small of her back to the top of her exposed shoulders. His hungry touch making her breathless and dizzy. _

_Elena kissed him back wantonly, her back arching with every new sensation. She could feel reality banging at the wall she built up over the rational side of her brain, but she didn't care. _

_Damon's fingers grazed the sensitive skin of her inner thighs; his touch making her gasp, finally allowing her to pull her mouth from his. Her arms still around his neck as she looked at him in surprised awe, her breathing labored._

_Seeing his flushed face before her - his eyes dark and anxious - she remembered where and who they were...and then the wall came crumbling down._

_Cheeks hot, Elena tried to look anywhere but at him. "I-oh my god..." she tried to untangle herself from Damon's body._

_But he would have none of it._

_"Elena," he cupped her face. "Look at me," he ordered._

_And she did. She couldn't help herself. Whatever had been rising between them - what she had been forcing herself to ignore for so long - there was no denying it now._

_Elena calmed in his arms, eyes searching his. "Damon...we can't," she half pleaded. "Stefan-"_

_"I don't care about Stefan!" Damon interrupted angrily. His expression immediately softening as he took in her wide eyes._

_Slowly, he leaned in closer, a vulnerability in his face that she'd never seen before. _

_"Elena. I want you."_

_The sureness of his words rendered her speechless. Never in her life had she ever wanted to say the right thing at the right time more than she did right now._

_And then it all shattered with just a few words..._

_"Hey, Elena. You here?" Stefan's voice called._

_She froze. Mind blank. Tongue-tied. All that good stuff; that's what she felt._

_Damon continued to stare at her, longing in his eyes. But just as quickly; lips curled, and he pushed away from her violently._

_He was already on the other side of the kitchen when Stefan walked in._

**xxx**

His face.

She still couldn't forget seeing the hope extinguish from his eyes. And she didn't want to forget either. Because as much as Stefan tried to convince her otherwise, there _was_ humanity left in Damon. It only took the right person to see it.

Rising from her bed, Elena got up quickly to her feet and grabbed her jacket from the closet. She was done with the second-guessing and the wishing of what could be.

Because, only a dream or not: no little bitch of a witch was taking what was her's.

**TBC.**


End file.
